1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capsule endoscope that is introduced inside an organ of a subject such as a body of a patient, and that takes images of the inside of the organ.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a field of endoscope, a swallowable capsule endoscope that has an imaging function and a wireless communication function has been developed, and a system for obtaining internal body information of a subject with which in-vivo images of the subject using such a capsule endoscope has been proposed. After swallowed from the mouth of a subject for observation (examination), the capsule endoscope sequentially captures images of the inside of an organ in the subject (hereinafter, also referred to as “in-vivo images”), for example, at 0.5-second intervals, while traveling inside an organ such as stomach and small intestine by peristaltic movement until the capsule endoscope is naturally excreted outside.
While the capsule endoscope is traveling inside the subject, the in-vivo images are sequentially transmitted to a receiving apparatus placed outside the subject by wireless communication. The receiving apparatus includes a wireless communication function and a memory function, and sequentially stores images received from the capsule endoscope inside the subject in a recording medium. If the receiving apparatus is carried, the subject can freely act during the entire period from swallow until the capsule endoscope is naturally excreted.
After the capsule endoscope is excreted, a user such as a doctor and a nurse captures the images accumulated in the recording medium of the receiving apparatus in an image display device, and causes this image display device to display the images of an organ inside the subject on a display thereof. The user can make a diagnosis by checking the images inside the subject displayed on the image display device.
One of such capsule endoscopes is provided with a float to have a specific gravity of the entire apparatus of approximately 1, in other words, to float in water (for example, Published Japanese Translation No. 2004-529718 of PCT International Application). The capsule endoscope described in Published Japanese Translation No. 2004-529718 of PCT International Application floats in water that is introduced inside a digestive canal of a subject, and passes through the stomach, the small intestine, and the like in the subject in a short time by the effect of water flow and peristaltic movement of organs, to reach the large intestine. This capsule endoscope enables to take images inside the large intestine in the subject intensively.